Shelby Livingston October
30, 2019
The number of children without
health insurance coverage continued to grow in 2018 as states put up more red
tape and the Trump administration ramped up its anti-immigration rhetoric and
policies, according to a new report.
The number of uninsured kids
climbed to 4.1 million, or 5.2% of children, in 2018 from 3.9 million, or 5% in
2017, according to the report by Georgetown University's Center for Children
and Families, which analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau American
Community Survey.
In 2017, the number and rate of
uninsured kids under 19 increased for the first time since 2008;
2018 marks the second year of the trend.
Joan Alker, executive director of
the Center for Children and Families, said during a call with news media
Tuesday that the decline in coverage is "due in large part to the Trump
administration's actions or inactions that have made health coverage harder to
access or have deterred families from enrolling their eligible children in Medicaid or (the Children's Health
Insurance Program)."
The increase in uninsured kids can
be explained in part by Trump administration actions and rhetoric that have led
immigrant families to keep from enrolling eligible kids in government programs
for fear of being deported, separated from their children, or having trouble in
the future adjusting their status, she said.
Though it was recently blocked from taking effect
by federal judges in two states, the Trump administration's public charge rule, finalized in
August, would have penalize legal immigrants for using government
benefits like Medicaid.
Some states have also made it
harder for families to enroll in or renew their kids' coverage by requiring
more paperwork and more frequent income checks,
Alker explained.
"After many years of clear
bipartisan leadership to get kids covered and national attention on the value
of coverage, the discussion in 2017 about repealing the Affordable Care Act,
cutting Medicaid and delaying funding for CHIP has had repercussions. It has
caused a lot of confusion about whether or not families could get coverage for
their kids," she said.
According to the report, the loss
of coverage was widespread across the nation, with 15 states experiencing a
statistically significant increase in either the number or the rate of
uninsured children between 2016 and 2018.
States that had the most
significant increases in the number of uninsured by percent change over the
two-year period include West Virginia, Tennessee, Idaho, Alabama and Ohio.
Of all states, Texas had the
largest rate of uninsured children at 11.2% in 2018.
States that have not expanded
Medicaid under the ACA were more likely to have higher rates of uninsured
children, according to the report. Uninsured children from families with
incomes between 138% and 250% of the federal poverty level saw the sharpest
increase in the uninsured rates.
There's evidence that children with
Medicaid coverage have better health outcomes and are more likely to graduate
from high school, earn higher income as adults, and use fewer government
benefits in the long-term, Alker said, adding that families whose children are
uninsured even for a short period risk medical debt and bankruptcy if an
accident occurs.
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